Teaching Matters’ work was recently featured in a WNYC News report about academic gains being made by students at Chelsea Career and Technical Education High School. Over 90 percent of Juniors passed this year’s English and US History Regents exams, with comparable gains seen among Sophomores who took the Science Regents. Teaching Matters has worked in partnership with Chelsea High School for three years to help build a school culture of professional learning, planning and collaboration.

During the 2010-2011 school year, Senior Educational Consultants Jelbin DeLaCruz and Judith LeFevre worked with 18 teachers across grade levels and subject areas, with a specific focus on improving student writing outcomes. DeLaCruz and LeFevre supported staff in the creation of grade specific writing prompts and rubrics, aligning the curriculum to the school’s instructional priorities. Using Writing Matters as a model, the school administered a baseline writing assessment to identify deficiencies and strengths among the student population. Throughout the year, teams came together to check-in on student progress and revise instructional resources as needed. According to DeLaCruz, “When we administered the end-of-year assessment, we saw a measurable improvement in students’ writing skills in the problem areas we’d identified in September. We also noticed more students taking ownership of the writing process, fostering an atmosphere of self-directed learning.”

Teaching Matters is committed to helping schools produce career and college ready learners. We are pleased to support the work of Principal Brian Rosenbloom and the dedicated teachers at Chelsea Career and Technical Education High School.

Click here to read the full WNYC article.